F2 and F3 confirm the opening rounds of the 2020 calendar
Following F1’s announcement, the FIA F2 and F3 championships have also released the beginning of their revised 2020 calendar that will see the junior drivers race alongside Formula 1 during the opening race weekends.
The F2 and the F3 championship would have originally kicked off in Bahrain on March 22, but the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced the organisers to call off the season-opening event. It was then followed by the postponement of all other race weekends that had been planned until the F1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Since the cancellation of the Bahrain event, the F2 and F3 championships have monitored the situation alongside Formula 1. After FOM had released the beginning of the curtailed 2020 F1 calendar today, F2 and F3 have also announced the start of their provisional calendars. The opening schedule will include holding two consecutive events at the same circuit one week apart (Spielberg and Silverstone) as well as a number of back to back events.
Spielberg will host the first two races on July 5 and 12. Budapest will play host to the third round of the championship on July 19. Silverstone will be the location of the second double-header on August 2 and 9. The field will meet again in Spain on August 16 while the first leg of the championship will conclude in Belgium and Italy on August 30 and September 6 respectively.
F2 and F3 CEO Bruno Michel confirmed that the two support series is set to race alongside Formula 1 in the opening phase of the championship.
“First of all, I would like to thank Formula 1 and the FIA for making this revised opening calendar possible in such difficult circumstances. I am very pleased to confirm that F2 and F3 will be able to race alongside F1 in the first eight events.
“It is unfortunate that currently we don’t expect fan attendance in these opening events, but we are however glad that we are able to bring them the entertainment of our racing in the safest way possible. “We will also follow the very detailed safety plan put in place by Formula 1 and the FIA as our priority is to make sure no risks are taken.”
The F2 and the F3 season will not conclude in Italy with the series expected to release the final part of the calendars later on. “Our 2020 season will continue beyond Monza. We will announce the second part of our calendar as soon as possible,” Michel concluded.
